


Lonely Among Us

by sartiebodyshots



Category: Falling Skies
Genre: Episode: s05e02, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 02:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4288152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caitlin asks to sit next to Ben after he kills her brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lonely Among Us

**Author's Note:**

> Technically comes after my other fic There But For the Grace of God, but as long as you know what happened/was implied in the episode it should make sense.

            “Can I sit here?” Caitlin asks, holding some food and looking at the space on the log Ben is sitting on.  She looks like she’s been crying.

            “Uh, sure,” Ben says, a little worried.  The last time they had seen each other, she was crying over the body of her dead brother, whom Ben had just executed.  That doesn’t bode well for why she wants to sit with him.  He may deserve her anger, but he doesn’t feel up to dealing with it.

            Caitlin eats her food and doesn’t say anything, which is somehow more off putting than if she had been yelling at him.  At least Ben would know why she was yelling at him.

            “I don’t want to be rude, or make you feel unwelcome, but…” Ben really needs to think before he opens his mouth.  “Why did you come sit here?”

            Caitlin swallows hard.  “Everyone else keeps looking at me like I’m a traitor.  Or a freak.  You just look sad.”

            Ben snorts.  “Thanks.”

            Caitlin shrugs.  “You do.  It’s not a bad thing.  If you looked happy, there’d be something wrong with you.”

            Ben nods a little because that’s very true and they go back to eating silently. 

            Caitlin finishes, burps a little, and gets up.  “Thanks for letting me sit here.”

            “I’m sorry,” Ben says before she can go.  “I’m sorry I had to kill your brother.”

            “Me, too.  He was everything I had left.  Everyone I know is dead.  I really hate you,” Caitlin says.  There’s no anger in her voice; it’s a statement of fact.

            “Yeah, that’s okay,” Ben says, looking away. 

            “But, uhm,” Caitlin stutters a little, “I heard something about some people torturing a skitter before letting it die.  So, uh, thank you for not doing it like that.  If it had to happen, I’m glad it was like that.  Glad it was you.”

            Ben looks up at her in surprise.  “Yeah, of course.  I know Maggie lied.  A lot.  But when she said that that could have been me, she was right.  I was one of those harnessed kids for a while- that’s where the spikes came from- so I knew that there was a person in there.”

            Caitlin sits back down.  “Is that why some people look at you weird, too?”

            “Yeah, it is,” Ben says.  “It’s been like three years, and some people still don’t think I’m on humanity’s side.”

            “Sounds complicated,” she says, looking over at him.

            “Not anymore,” Ben says.  “I keep my head down, do what I’m supposed to.  I know which side I’m on.  As long as people don’t get in my face, it doesn’t matter what they think.”

            “That still sounds lonely,” Caitlin says quietly.

            Ben just shrugs.  He doesn’t want to think about how alone he really is now.  Sure, Maggie has spikes, too, but she was never harnessed, wasn’t there when he and Deni built the rebellion, hasn’t even been taken over by a skitter or an overlord.

            Maggie’s a lot of things, but she’s not Deni.

            “I hate you, a lot,” Caitlin says, “but I also like you more than I like anyone else in this camp.”

            Ben smiles sadly at her.  “Thanks.”

            “Do you think next time I’m eating, it’d be okay if I came and sat near you again?” Caitlin asks.

            “Yeah, of course, as long as I’m not up there,” Ben nods towards the wall. 

            “I’ll see you around, then,” Caitlin says, getting unsteadily to her feet and wandering off.

            “Bye,” Ben says quietly, waving a little and wondering where in camp she could possibly be going to.

            Ever so briefly, he feels a little less alone.


End file.
